July 15, 2002

By Lucy Schultze

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the July 9, 2002, edition of The Oxford Eagle.

OXFORD, Miss. — William Faulkner’s home will open its doors for one evening this month before they’re shut tight for nine months of renovation and repair.

As part of the 29th Annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference, attendees will gather at Rowan Oak for a picnic dinner on July 24. Six weeks later, work will begin on the first phase of a $1.2 million restoration project designed to preserve the author’s home and 31-acre grounds.

The house has already been closed to crowds since December while the new climate control system to equalize temperature and humidity inside the house was being designed. During that time, visitors have been able to tour the home only by making special arrangements with University Museums.

“The house needed a break,” said Rowan Oak curator William Griffith. “I feel bad for the visitors who didn’t get the word it was closed. But in order to plan for the preservation of the house, we had to close it.”

Griffith said that no special exceptions to tour the home can be made once work inside the home begins after Sept. 3. Phase One, which will also include the installation of new plumbing and electric wiring, should be finished by May 2003, he said.

When it is complete, work can begin on Phase Two, which includes repairing the plaster walls, repainting rooms in original colors, wallpapering with original designs, and purchasing replicas of furniture and rugs.

Currently in the bidding process, the $363,000 second phase has been funded through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s “Save America’s Treasures” grant program, with matching funds from the Mississippi Legislature.

The University of Mississippi has also secured a $479,000 grant from U.S. Housing and Urban Development to complete Phase Three, which will restore the landscaping of Rowan Oak’s grounds and gardens.

The first phase was funded through a $500,000 appropriation from the Mississippi Legislature in 1998. Original plans called for the first phase to be finished last month — in time to allow summer visitors a chance to tour the home — but the design portion of the project took longer than expected.

Griffith said he hopes not to have to close the home during Phase Two of the project. The grounds will remain open throughout the restoration process, he said.

Rowan Oak was built by a pioneer settler in the 1840s and purchased by Faulkner in 1930. He lived there until his death in 1962, and the University of Mississippi purchased the home and grounds from the author’s daughter 10 years later.

Related Links
	The 29th Annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference, “Faulkner and His Contemporaries,” July 21-26, 2002. Official web site for the conference. Includes program schedule and registration information.
	Faulkner’s Home: Rowan Oak. From William Faulkner on the Web. Includes map of the grounds, floor plans, photographs and descriptions of rooms and buildings.

Mississippi Writers Page Links
About This Site | New Book Info | News & Events | Literary Landmarks | Mississippi Literary History | Mississippi Publishing | Other Features | Other Web Resources

WRITER LISTINGS:
by author | by title | by place | by year | by genre

SEARCH THE MISSISSIPPI WRITERS PAGE

Ole Miss Links
UM Home Page | English Department | Center for the Study of Southern Culture | The University of Mississippi Foundation